Polyend Tracker Sessions #4: "MLT - Siren's Song"

Miltos Schimatariotis

"This track is also available for download from Bandcamp: https://mlt-music.bandcamp.com/track/..."

"Here is a new video for my Polyend Tracker series, this time with a project that I will share with the Tracker community. This song will be included in the SD content for you to explore if you wish!

As I gradually establish a workflow with the Tracker I often come up with some simple 'tricks' that can make a difference in the overall result of a track. On this one, I use the Slice mode extensively, not for some beat or loop slicing but for a possibly less obvious reason.

While recording one-shot samples from various synths in order to use them inside the Tracker I was wondering what would be a possible way to preserve some of the liveliness of the sounds. By recording a single sample from a synth patch, (since a Tracker Instrument can have only one sample at a time) in most cases you lose some amount of the real character of the sound. So what I am doing, in this case, is that I record a single note from a synth multiple times in a row while (slightly) changing synth parameters, for example, the filter cutoff or an oscillator frequency if the patch features FM etc. Then by using the Slice mode in the Tracker and adjusting slice points, I can use the Slice FX to change the timbre of my sound while it is playing a pattern. This technique can also be used for acoustic instruments. For example, you can record a piano or a guitar note in different velocities or a cymbal or snare to eliminate the "machine gun" effect.

This simple workflow can really make a big difference in the end result. Also, to make the process faster you can either use the auto-slice feature or the equal-slice. The equal-slice is especially useful if you record your synths in a DAW and you export loops with equally spaced notes. And to top it off, if all your synth samples are recorded similarly-equally spaced you can then swap samples in the Tracker without needing to readjust anything.

The whole thing may sound a bit complicated but it really isn't. I intend to make some tutorials in the future about things that I find useful in my Tracker workflow, so stay tuned!
* Next video will be about the Medusa...

This track is also available for download from Bandcamp: https://mlt-music.bandcamp.com/track/..."